Follow our American family of 4 (+ one dog) as we begin our new life in Lillehammer, Norway.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Sleep

Three days before Henrik was born
in late February, an article appeared in Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper; the headline read Norsk uskikk at spedbarn skal sove ute. The Norwegian bad habit
that newborns should sleep outside.

It was a well-timed article, as I
was well aware of the Norwegian, or perhaps more accurately the Scandinavian
habit (as an article with similar theme appeared on the BBC around that same
time about babies in Sweden) of babies taking their daily naps outside in their
strollers, no matter what the weather.

Outside?you ask.But isn't it cold in Norway, like, 11 and a
half months out of the year?

Why yes, it is, but that
doesn't seem to stop anyone. In fact, there are written recommendations from
pediatric health offices stating that it is acceptable for babies to sleep
outside until it is -10C (or 14F)!

Napping out in a stroller,
bundled up in layers of wool and downy sleeping bags, is one of the few
Norwegian habits that Greta did not adapt particularly well to upon our move
here when she was 2. 5 years old and she began at the barnehage. It was too
different and she was too curious—she kept peeking out of the stroller to see
what the other kids were doing. Greta was a Champion Napper until this point,
and we felt like had really gotten the nap thing nailed first time around.
Naturally, I was both a little resistant and, I admit, defensive, against the
thought of having to a) adjust my parenting habits which had served us quite
well with baby #1 and b) make me and my baby somehow more “Norwegian”.

Uhh, Emily?you say. There is no one forcing you to have Henrik sleep outside. The worst
that could happen is that the Norwegian Nap Police won't come and award you
with Integrated Foreign Mother of the Year, right?

True, but. . . that's a
really cool award! Seriously, though. . . once Henrik begins barnehage,
which he will likely do around one year of age, he will be taking his naps
outside in his stroller with all the other one-year olds. So, there is an
incentive to train him to sleep outside now when he is young, otherwise it
could be difficult once he is older. We had even bought a new stroller for baby
#2 that could better accommodate a napping child because we knew this child
would be napping outdoors.

But appearance of this article
just days before Henrik’s birth only added to my mixed feelings on the subject,
and also justified some of my resistance. The article quoted a number of
Norwegian parents and barnehage employees who talk about how healthy it is and
how soundly babies sleep outside. “It has never occurred to me that it was
anything other than healthy than to sleep outside,” said one mother. “The fresh
air is healthy. And she likes her stroller,” said another.

But apparently a number of utenlandsk(foreign) parents are asking the doctors and barnehage
leaders why it is so healthy to sleep
outside, and in this article Norwegian pediatric leaders are admitting, yeah. .
. we actually don’t have any studies proving this is more healthy than sleeping
indoors. One doctor in particular was “very skeptical” that babies should sleep
out, especially in the cold. “I think it’s an odd Norwegian habit, or actually bad habit, that infants should sleep
outside, even in the winter.” He continues and says he gave a talk in Buenos
Aires several years ago and told that a “certain percent” of Norwegian SIDS
deaths happen while the babies sleep in their stollers in the winter.

While alarming, this did not come
as a surprise to me, and in fact confirmed a concern that I have had, as
Norwegians are very fond of piling puffy dyner
– down comforters—on and around their sleeping infants in the stroller, very
much against all the anti-SIDS recommendations we have in the US. It is not
uncommon to see babies buried under a thick down comforter even in the middle
of the summer. Unfortunately, the article did not pursue this point at all,
which I found very frustrating, since the SIDS rate is something that I have wondered
about.Instead the doctor
continued that the bad habit must be a kind of misdirected belief in
“hardening” or toughening up the babies by breathing in cold air, but that
there really isn’t any research or studies to back up any of these long-held
beliefs.

One barnehage leader was
questioned by a foreign parent about the whys of outside naps, she responded
that there is less danger for spreading infection between the children when
they are all sleeping outside (again—not documented or studied, just a
“belief”). But a belief that I can see some truth in. Interestingly enough, the
sleeping outside habit is so well institutionalized in Norwegian culture that there
probably aren’t any barnehages that could
accommodate all of their infant and toddlers sleeping inside—the barnehages are
simply not built with that need in mind.

When Henrik was about 6 weeks old
in the beginning of April and the weather was still in the 30s F, I attended a
postpartum group at the health center. The group was lead by a helsesøster—kind of a pediatric
community health nurse—to answer questions we might have. I had taken Henrik
out on walks in his buggy, having dutifully dressed him in a layer of wool long
underwear and bundled inside a baby sleeping bag, and he did seem to sleep
quite well. I had occasionally let him finish off a nap on our porch if we
finished a walk and he was still sleeping, but quite nervously. But I had not
grown comfortable with the idea intentionally putting him outside to sleep, so
I finally asked, “Soooo. . . I’m not Norwegian. (eyebrows raise around the
room, curious looks abound). I’m not used to having my baby sleep outside in
the cold. Or when it’s warm! I never dressed my daughter in wool until she was
nearly 3 years old. What do you dress your baby in when it’s outside? How do
you know it’s warm enough?”

And at first, they seemed rather
surprised: where does your baby nap if
not in its stroller?What do you
dress them in if not wool? Seriously! And not surprisingly, the answers
were basically what I expected: dress
them in wool (ahh Norwegians and their love of wool) and the sound advice
of check to see if they are warm. Duh.
The helsesøster laughed,“Did that
help?” she asked. Not exactly, but at least I felt like I wasn’t doing anything
wrong.

So, don’t leave me in suspense, you say. Where does
Henrik take his naps?

As the weather warmed this
spring, I became more comfortable with leaving him on our porch in his buggy
after a walk and allowing him to finish off a nap, with a baby monitor in the
side pocket, within full view of my kitchen and living room window, and safely
in our back yard. It wasn’t until about 6 weeks ago, in a moment of
this-kid-won’t-stay-asleep-and-he’s-driving-me-crazy frustration, that I tossed
him into his buggy where he laid calmly and quietly awake for half an hour,
then put himself to sleep and proceeded to sleep for another hour and a half.
Later that afternoon, I started his nap in the buggy. He slept for 3 hours.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Who am I, really?

The Other Players

Erik: my sweet husband, a native Minnesotan with Norwegian ancestry. Lived in Voss and Trondheim, Norway from 1994-1996, and vowed to return. Once a competitive cross-country ski racer, now with a PhD under his belt and behind his name, he found a job that brought us all to Norway. Mission Accomplished.

Greta: our cheery 7 year old daughter, born in New England, moved to Norway at the age of 2.5 years and quickly became bilingual. Never stops drawing or reading, unless I tell her to put it down and pick up her violin.

Henrik: our newest addition, born in Lillehammer in February 2013, but still 100% American blooded and loves Elmo, tractors and cranes.

Tika: our 10 year old, 80lb Weimaraner/Black Lab hunk of a dog, who bravely faced her fears of confined spaces and loud noises and flew across the Atlantic Ocean in a drug-induced haze, and lived to bark about it. Loves tennis balls, long runs in the woods, and these gross dried fish treats we've found here.